Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz said:
We cannot be imitators in everything that is real.
We cannot be just followers.
We are demanded, and especially our people are commanded, to be a Kingdom of Priests.
The point is that a priest doesn’t need another priest to officiate for him.
A Jew doesn’t need a rabbi.
A Jew needs a personal connection with the “Boss,” with the Lord Himself.
As a person I am demanded, and as a Jew I am demanded, to have such a connection.
So I have one, and for me it’s a very personal one.
I have to have some kind of meeting with the essence of my being a Jew.
So I think that every one of us has at one point in his life to find out what is his or her basic connection.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz